Soul Friends
by Koos
Summary: Just read if you wanna know :


**Soul Friends**

Pairings: Willow/Tara for sure, Xander/Faith(/Dawn) sort of, I am not sure.

Beta: Keith

TimeFrame: BuffyS5

**Part 1 Visitor from Hell**

She was at the prison visitor booth, a place she rarely visited. Most girls had someone, a friend or family member, who would regularly visit 'em. She had nobody, except for Angel. But it had been a while her mentor and best friend had come. Xander was sat in his tuxedo, torn at several places, as his big brown eyes tried to evade her. He was sporting a rather big fake mustache and a few days old scruffy beard. But most noticeable was the long scar that ran along his cheek up to his hair-line. Somewhere the image fitted him, made him look . . . hot, but it was also funny in a silly kind of way. He was silly enough to match the ridiculousness of the situation - the fact that he was here. He wasn't on top of her list of the least expected, least wanted, visitors, but he was close. She picked up the phone.

"Hey," he said, his voice was painful, tired and nervous.

"Hey," she replied, not knowing what to say. Apparently he didn't know either as he remained quiet. "Armageddon?" she asked. Why else would he be here?

"How you doing?"

Still chit chat time. Well, not her problem. She won't tell him of the solitary cell she had spent her time in last week though. "Five by five, I guess." He just nodded, but Faith could see he didn't really buy it. "I didn't kill anyone, if that's what you think. Not yet anyway," she said in an afterthought.

"I guess it's hard, y'know, redemption."

"Angel thinks we can make it."

"I know." She didn't know why, but she believed him. It hurt her to believe him. It hurt her to believe how wrong she had been. Hell, she didn't even want to think of him as she didn't want to think of her past in Sunnydale. Sometimes when she closed her eyes, she could see her victims - he was one of them. His eyes black as oil as if he knew he was going to die. The worst part was that he was a victim not because she didn't care, but because she had been too scared to care. "And he's right."

His words didn't have the same kind naive care that the boy had on that faithless night. His words were based on cold hard reality. She stared at him for a few moments; he didn't say anything as she could see that recent events replayed in his mind. It suddenly hit her. He needed her. "Angel's the only one in my life who's never given up on me. There's no way I'm giving up on—"

"He sacrificed himself."

"—Him." She must have zoned out for a while, because she had missed his words. "Step back." Whatever it was, if it was worth Angel's death it was worth more than enough for her. She jumped through the security glass, grabbed Xander and both jumped through the window.

She pulled him from the ground. "Faith-" he groaned, but she cut him short.

"You can explain while we hit the road." She looked at him; his nervousness was still there, despite his revelation. "You do have a car, right?"

"Right," he said, pointing to one that had just passed them on the road.

They ran towards it and Faith could see the driver. Her hair was brown and long and her expression said it all. She took shotgun, while Xander stepped in the backseat. "Hey, squirt."

Dawn didn't say anything as she accelerated the car. Faith didn't miss the girl's emotionless stare. It was the same stare the girl had when she'd protected her mother. She also didn't miss the red in her eyes and the dirt on her face. Then there was the dress she wearing. It was made of the most horrific green Faith had ever seen. And just like Xander's tuxedo it was torn at several places. "Okay, what's up?"

Dawn simply pointed to the backseat, as if that would explain everything. Faith turned around, and what she saw confused her. She recognized them both. Little annoying bookworm Red and her shy friend Tara. They were both in white wedding dresses. But, that wasn't what confused her. It was the way they behaved: giggling and playing with each other. They were ignoring them all, not only her, completely - like they were living in their own little world. What the hell was going on? What kind of demon did this?

She looked at Xander for an explanation, but he was too much occupied with the two women at his side. It was Dawn who gave her the shortest version of the, no doubt, long story. "There's a Hell Goddess after me."


End file.
